League of Utah Writers: A Revolution

A few thoughts on the League of Utah Writers Roundup 2012

Roundup is a writers’ conference that hosts key note speakers and workshops over two days and allows for the growth of our craft and the ability to network with other writers, agents, and editors.

Roundup happens annually in September. LUW and Roundup have been around for a long long time. In the not too distant past, another conference started from a mere seed of eight LDS authors looking to help each other build their genre. That group became known as LDStorymakers. LDStorymakers grew from eight people to a conference that welcomed 400 people last May plus a waiting list. Although it still has a strong LDS vibe running just under the surface, they’ve since evolved to a more mainstream group including all genres and nearly all tastes.

As Storymakers gained in popularity, the old guard, Roundup, began to wane in attendance. Phrases like, “There’s no spark,” or “It feels like something is missing,” began to creep into the halls of Roundup. Storymakers is still as popular as ever, but with regard to this year’s Roundup, well, like George Costanza said after a bite of mango, “I’m back, baby!”

This year’s Roundup was a pleasure on all fronts. The key note speakers, Richard Paul Evans and Barry Eisler were both terrific. A host of talented authors offered workshops and panels that left me excited and frustrated since I pretty much wanted to attend them all yet they forced me to choose. But overall, there was a real sense of camaraderie that’s been missing. A feeling that we’re all in this together. As Barry Eisler said, a feeling of revolution.

Special call out to Precision Editing Group

They hosted Bootcamp, an extra service you had to sign up for at a very reasonable cost. We were divided into groups of five and critiqued each other’s pages along with an editor/author. I was lucky enough to be at Annette Lyon’s table. Along with all the other great stuff that came out of the session, I think I solved a problem in my WIP that’s been vexing me for six months.

Bootcamp really is the best part of every conference for me. You get fresh eyes on your work, from an experienced editor and/or author, and four or five genuine reader responses. Why is genuine reader response so valuable? Because when you write, it matters not one iota what you meant, it only matters what the reader understood. You may be brilliant in your own head, but readers don’t have security clearance to that zone.

The other reason I love Bootcamp? Networking. What a terrific way to meet other writers. People who think like you do.

People who get it!

Speaking of people who get it, it's a unique genre of people who can create a pick-up game of Dominion in the lobby of the hotel.

For reasons that may only be known to me, here are some callouts. For one reason or another, these people made a particular impact on my weekend (in no particular order):

            Annette Lyon

            Maxwell Alexander Drake

            Margot Hovley

            Marion Jenson

            Barry Eisler

            Richard Paul Evans

            Cory Webb

            Christy Monson

            Carol Shreeve

            Chadd VanZanten

            Martin Meyers

            Lucas Hunt

            Howard Tayler

            Emily Sanderson

            Shanna Hovley   
            Cynthia Loveland                                                              
            Sariah Horowitz  

Bruce Richardson

Nathan Croft

With any list like this, I’m sure I overlooked someone. If I did, let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to resolve the matter.